


Husk of A Gentleman

by epkitty



Category: Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: Angst, Backstory, Family Drama, Family Secrets, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-28
Updated: 2011-04-28
Packaged: 2017-10-18 18:17:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/191814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/epkitty/pseuds/epkitty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maude makes another visit to Four Corners, and it's the last straw for Ezra.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Husk of A Gentleman

**Author's Note:**

> Can be read as gen or pre-pre-slash.

“Hey Ezra! Guess who just got off the stage!” The saloon doors banged open and a small whirlwind entered.

The gambler grimaced, but to JD it looked like a smile. “I can only imagine my dear mother has finally arrived.”

“You knew?” the youth asked sadly while his energetic trot slowed to a crawl, disappointed that he brought old news.

Ezra nodded, pulling a yellow paper out of his coat pocket. “My charming mother sent me a telegram some time ago warning me of her imminent arrival.” The man stood wearily from his seat at the table and walked beside JD, out to meet the stagecoach.

“Why didn’t you tell us?”

Ezra suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. “With my mother, one never knows if her promises shall be kept,” he explained, regretting the words the moment they were said. He quickened his pace.

= = = = =

“Ezra! Darling!”

Ezra smiled with false delight and embraced his mother, who awaited him with open arms, an unusual and unnecessary display of affection in Ezra’s mind. ‘I wonder what important scheme is on her mind this time,’ he thought.

“Mother! How good of you to come visit me in this backwater village while I retain such a foolish and dangerous choice of profession as lawman.”

“Oh pish posh, you know I like to tease. So tell me! What have you been up to recently, not getting hurt again I hope. I dare say, this ridiculous venture should be over by now. I can’t imagine what induced you to stay, for you can’t be making more than fifty a week with the… culturally diverse, motley crew of people who pass through. I must know when you plan to come back with me. I’m in Denver now; you know, I happen to have an extra ticket for my return trip…”

Ezra slowly escorted his mother to the hotel, Buck, JD, and Josiah following along behind with the luggage. The southerner let Maude talk as the immaculately dressed pair gracefully traversed the street, wafting small clouds of dust in their wake, and he smiled and nodded and did all the gentlemanly things she expected of him.

Once settled in her room, Maude made plans to have dinner with Ezra in the most expensive restaurant in town. Would he come? Of course he would come. Eight ‘o’clock. Sharp. Yes. Yes. Of course. Of course it’s not a problem. Well, it would be terribly ungentlemanly of him not to pick her up. He’ll be here. Don’t worry. Yes. No, nothing to worry about. Yes. Yes. Yes, he would pay. No mother. Yes mother. He’ll see her in four hours. Yes. Goodbye then.

Ezra dragged his feet in a most ungentlemanly manner as he plodded from the hotel back to the saloon. He wandered up to the counter and signaled the bartender. “I need a drink.”

= = = = =

Ezra smiled and nodded his way through dinner, letting Maude talk herself near blue, hoping she’d let something slip; but he’d learned from a master and could detect no tells as to the true purpose of her visit.

He ignored the six men who sat two tables over, watching the mother and her son eat dinner as though it were the most ingenious play ever written.

Finally, as dessert was laid before them, Maude explained herself. “Now you see, up in Denver I’ve met the perfect mark. Can you believe it?! He’s agreed to marry me! I’ll be set for life! I told him I was coming down to visit my son where he was marshal—”

Ezra raised his eyebrows and ceased picking at the cream pie before him.

Maude waved away the disapproving expression. “Oh a little exaggeration —”

“You mean fabrication.”

Maude frowned nastily, but only for a moment, and no one but her own son would have caught the menacing look. “A little _fabrication_ never hurt anyone. Anyway, he’s made all his money on these fantastic railroads that are being tossed about the country. I’ve promised to bring you up to meet him—“

“Mother—”

“So you see, it’s imperative that you take a small holiday, no more than a week would be fine, I’m sure, to return with me to Denver and meet him.”

“Mother—”

“Don’t worry, you’ll make a wonderful impression; well, when you set your mind to it you can accomplish anything. I remember once when you—”

“Mother—”

“But you see how necessary it is for—”

“Mother—”

“Now, now Ezra—”

“Mother! Stop!” he shouted, as he slapped the tabletop with two flat palms and stood to look down on his mother. “Listen to me,” Ezra pleaded; only Maude could detect the defiance, the promise, the begging in his voice. “I refuse to return with you to some gilded city only to improve your chances with a man who cares as much for you as you do for him. I can only imagine what falsehoods you invented to get as far as you have. I am not your little toy anymore. You cannot use me and put me back on the shelf until such time as you see fit to take me out and dust me off for whatever ruse you’ve planned this time. I’m a man now mother, and no servant of yours. Hire some lackey to portray your charming son, for I won’t do it! I’m through with gambling, cheating, conniving! Get your kicks someplace else… and don’t come back here.” Throughout his heated dialogue, Ezra had stared accusingly down at his mother. Now Maude gracefully rose to meet the challenge.

“How dare you! You owe me everything! If it weren’t for me, you’d have nothing! You’d be dead! Ezra, I’m sorry, but is it too much to ask to come visit your mother for a week—”

“No! No, it would not be. But everything you’ve ever offered me has always come with a price. I’m not going to pay anymore.” Sadly, Ezra turned his eyes down, finished with Maude for the evening.

“Ezra! What are you doing? Where are you going? You can’t possibly…”

All her pleas, promises, and apologies went ignored as Ezra laid down his napkin and the check for their meals. He turned and fled the restaurant, still managing to retain his dignity as he waltzed past his six confused and worried friends, never acknowledging them.

For a moment, Maude stood watching the little bit of air that Ezra had previously occupied. Finally coming to a decision, she smiled at the six lawmen, who eyed her unfavorably, and took off with determined steps after her son.

Five pairs of eyes turned to Chris. “What?” he growled unhappily.

“What are we gonna do?” JD asked mournfully. “They shouldn’t be alone out there, not the way Ezra is right now.”

Eyebrows rose at the kid’s unexpected perceptiveness.

“I think you’re right, brother,” Josiah agreed, but made no move to stir from his position, lounging at the table between Nathan and Buck.

Chris looked to Vin.

Vin looked at Chris.

Chris rose. “I go alone,” he proclaimed. Not waiting for an answer, not expecting one, the gunslinger exited the restaurant to stealthily trail Maude, who’d followed Ezra to the livery.

= = = = =

Chris slipped within the stable to hide behind a conveniently situated stack of hay bales to spy on Ezra and his mother, eavesdropping on the private conversation that had begun over a public dinner.

“…just some innocent rebellion that you’ll overcome soon enough. That stubborn skull of yours has been your downfall every time. I don’t know where you get it—”

“You wouldn’t, would you?”

Maude sighed, flustered. “Stop this nonsense at once. I don’t know what happened to turn you away from me, but I don’t think these gunslingers you’ve teamed up with are a good influence on you.”

“Oh mother, they’re just ignorant cowboys… don’t blame them for your own mistakes.”

“My mistakes?! Hold on Mister, what on earth have I done—”

“Nothing!” Ezra shouted, and then took a breath. More calmly, he spoke, “Nothing, just… leave me alone.”

Maude examined Ezra for a moment, letting him calm himself where he stood, slowly petting Chaucer’s soft snout. She took a few steps towards him until they were eye to eye in front of his horse. “Ezra, I’m sorry.”

Ezra actually thought she might be attempting a sincere apology; he’d been leading himself on.

“But you can’t honestly think this is good for you, here in this town! You’re no one! You _**know**_ no one! Come with me! If you stay on here, then you’ll never be anything but a failure.”

Ezra took a step back, releasing the hold on his emotions for the second time that night. “Then I’ll _**be**_ a failure! Just leave me to it! You don’t care! You never did! Just leave me alone and go back to your charming fiancé in Denver where you’ll live a lie with or without me!”

“Don’t you care about your own mother?” Maude took another step forward, compensating for her son’s backward movement. “I need you on this, Ezra,” she whispered. “The agreement is tenuous at best, but if you just—“

“No! No! I’m done with you! Be off. Go. Go!”

Maude’s smiling façade quickly transformed to a true mask of disgust and pity. “So this is what you’ve come to. Tied to a town for no reason at all, listening to some idea of a conscience, a respect for duty? This is ridiculous!” she spat. “I should have left you in the stable where I found you! Look at you. A husk of a gentlemen covered in dirt and dust from the trails. Calluses on your hands, stubble on your face. Hugging a half-rate horse in a filthy livery, just like the day I first saw you.”

Finding that her words had stopped, Maude turned to exit the barn. She was at the doorway when a flash of light caught her eye. She turned to focus on the little silver buttons adorning Chris Larabee’s shirt. She quickly widened her scope to take in the sight of one royally pissed gunslinger. She could not hide her shock and turned quickly to find Ezra. He was oblivious, talking to his horse.

Maude gestured for Chris to follow her as she continued out the door, not waiting for an answer.

For a moment, Chris sat in debate with himself. But then he slipped out the doors where he stopped to look for Maude. Spotting her waiting for him across the street in an alleyway, he marched over to her.

“If you weren’t a woman—“ he rumbled.

“Mr. Larabee!” she cut him off, “If I weren’t a woman, I’d be a poor excuse for a man. Don’t say anything, please. I know what you must think of me. I just want to say, don’t tell Ezra what you heard; he’s heartbroken enough as it is—“

“Heart-broken? After what he’s been through, I’m not sure he has one anymore. Get out of town. Tomorrow.” He held up a hand, seeing her about to protest. “Just go. No more words.”

Not allowing any further exchange between them, Chris spun on his heel, leaving Maude alone in the alley’s dark muck and mire.

= = = = =

Chris found himself standing outside the livery. He had intended to enter, to say something, hopefully to comfort. But now, he remained transfixed, wondering at the best course of action. Perhaps it would be best to ignore what had happened. Or should he let Ezra know that he’d overheard? Nothing ever seemed to go well with Maude.

He still hadn’t made a decision when he took the last steps to the stable, walking slowly, his jangling spurs the only tell of his arrival.

Without raising his eyes, his back still turned to the door, Ezra spoke. “Please excuse my irrational behavior at the restaurant tonight. Maude and I had… a bit of a misunderstanding. Is there something I can do for you, Mr. Larabee?”

“Ezra,” Chris didn’t know what to say. “Your mother—”

“She’s not my mother,” Ezra interrupted him.

Chris’s jaw dropped. Finally he managed, “What?”

“Maude Standish… is not my birth mother. You overheard.”

“What? How did you…” Chris let it drop. “I’m sorry Ezra. No one should have to hear that from family, even if they aren’t blood.”

Ezra shrugged. “It’s nothing I haven’t heard before. You’d best go tell the others none of us has killed each other. Yet.”

“The others can wait,” Larabee commanded. “Right now, I’m worried about you.”

“Me? Why?” Ezra demanded suspiciously, turning to finally look upon the other.

“Because you’re my family, Ezra. The six of you are all I have. And right now is bad for you; I know that. And I don’t think you should be alone is all.”

Ezra seemed shocked for a moment, but finally he simply turned back to Chaucer. “I’m no one’s family…” he seemed to mutter to himself.

“Ezra, having people care for you is a burden. It’s about time you learned that.”

Ezra shook his head, not in the negative, but simply not comprehending.

“That horse is gonna go bald if y'brush ‘im any more.”

Ezra half-heartedly set aside the comb he’d been using, but made no more movement.

“What say we head on over to the saloon?”

“That sounds like a marvelous notion, Mr. Larabee,” the gambler agreed, unconsciously brushing away the layers of dirt and dust that had accumulated on his fine clothing over the course of the day as the two men made their way out of the livery to the saloon.

= = = = =

Ezra tapped the bar top. “Another,” he demanded in a slightly slurred voice.

The barkeep shook his head, but set the whole damn bottle on the counter.

“Maybe you oughta slow down a little,” Chris recommended, but the gambler ignored him, downing another of many shots. “Well then, maybe you want to start telling me about Maude?”

Ezra’s eyes lost what focus they’d had as he stared off at the mirror behind the bar. He finally set down his glass as he sighed and began his story. “Maude Standish? What’s to know? She’s a con-woman, a gambler, a cheat, and she’s damn good at it. I learned from the best.”

Chris looked away and asked in a choked voice, “She… found you?”

Ezra nodded. “In that St. Louis stable. I was quite young, huddled in with the animals. But… there’s nothing before Maude: my life was a void until the beautiful lady in the decadent dress swooped down from society’s highest ranks to rescue me from a meaningless life, like a fairy-godmother out of some overly romantic fairytale. Who knows what kernel of maternal instinct possessed Maude to reach out to some vagabond child in a cheap stable? ‘Come with me,’ she instructed. I did not question as I reached out my own hand and stood to join her at her side. She smiled down at me and said, ‘My name is Maude. What’s yours?’ I had no idea. I shrugged. She frowned, but only for an instant and said, ‘How about I call you Ezra?’ I nodded. I didn’t remember ever having a name. It seemed like a beginning as I walked out of that stable… straight to the tailor’s for suitable clothing. I must have been four or five, but I couldn’t remember a life before Maude as she taught me all there was to know about cards and any other manner of swindling. She was disappointed, however, that I never spoke. I didn’t speak a word until I was nearly twelve.” Ezra chuckled sadly. “I suppose I’m making up for lost time.”

Chris stared, hardly believing what he’d heard. Everyone deserved a proper childhood, a loving family, even Ezra. It looked as though even those basics had been denied the gambler.

Seeming to know the other man’s thoughts, Ezra said, “I am a gambler, Mr. Larabee. I’ve no need of family or love. Maude taught me that a long time ago.”

Chris shook his head. “Everyone needs family, and love. Even you.”

Ezra laughed. “Ah, Mr. Larabee, it seems you are truly a romantic at heart. I’d have thought you’d a better understanding of the world.”

Chris laughed too, and few words were shared after that as the men engaged in deep drinking and purposeless laughter.

= = = = =

The End


End file.
